Seems that they do http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-ios.html unless it's a different iOS version of VLC than the one on the app store that was removed.

I'm debating buying an iPad and not being able to play all media formats is a big one. Can I drag mkv 720p files to my iPad and will VLC play them if I can get it installed via above? Also hows the battery life if trying to play a 720p or 1080p file?

FWIW my Android Transformer plays everything using MX player. There's a seperate install for the codecs, but its easy and painless. All in the android play store. No sideloading needed.

Perfect! Thank you for finding that! I skimmed their site but obviously not deep enough.

How would this help? (And I'm actually asking, not disputing.)

I don't have an iPad. Does Apple allow you to load your own app (as in an app you write or at least compile for yourself) onto your own iPad, or do you have to load everything through the store, which requires getting Apple's approval?

If you can't directly load your own app (which is my, perhaps mistaken, impression), how would having the source help? If you can, then that sounds like a potential solution.

Yes you can run your own code. Otherwise development would be very difficult, because with every small tweak you would have to get the code approved by Apple.